Overview

Described by a staffer as more like the LIRR than the New
York Subway, BART is the first of the hi-tech mass transit systems in
the US. A pioneer in Automatic Train Control, magnetic farecards, no
overnight service, and fares based on distance traveled, BART opened
its first segment in September, 1972. The system can be described as
"X" shaped, with three legs in the East Bay. The fourth leg is the
trans-bay line into the City of San Francisco and down the peninsula.
Recently a branch off the southern leg was opened creating a fifth
line.

With the exception of special event trains such as for
the "Bay to Breakers" annual runner extravaganza, all trains are
locals. Although a few short turns are scheduled, most trains run from
end to end. There is no service overnight. During rush hour, each of
the four East Bay lines has direct service to San Francisco, in
addition to an all-East Bay service from Richmond to Fremont. In the evening,
direct service to San Francisco from Richmond
and Fremont ceases, and does not run on Sundays at all. Service to
San Francisco during this period is provided by trains between Daly City
and Concord/Bay Point. During times when no direct service to San
Francisco is scheduled on a particular line, the trains are timed to
meet at MacArthur inbound and at 12th St./Oakland outbound to
facilitate transfers.

All stations are ADA compliant, although this has been a
matter of litigation as elevators to street level are often awash in
urine and frequently inoperative. The platform edges are finished in
"Lego"-style semi-soft plastic in bright yellow with black sections to
indicate train door locations.

Each station has a set of four illuminated signs at each
platform which announce the train as it enters the station; in the
downtown San Francisco stations, some of these first-generation signs
were replaced with TV type displays in the early 1990s, and again
replaced with red LED-dot signs in late 1998/early 1999. While at
first no attempt was made to display destination on the actual trains,
a tiny sign can be seen on the operator's console designating the
destination of each train.

All ticketing is magnetic stripe card stock purchased
from vending machines or a very limited number of human staffed ticket
kiosks. With the exception of service within San Francisco there are
no flat rate tickets.

Route Map

Track Map

Station By Station

The Initial Operating Segment - MacArthur to Fremont

The line from MacArthur in Oakland to Fremont was the
first segment to open and is a mix of elevated, subway, and at grade
trackage. The MacArthur station is in the median of a
major freeway interchange, and consists of two island platforms and
four tracks (the only such station in the entire system). The
MacArthur station is a primary transfer point for riders from the
Richmond branch to change for San Francisco-bound trains during
mid-day and late evenings. Immediately east of the freeway supports
is a large parking lot. Most BART stations offer park-and-ride
facilities. With the exception of the two downtown stations in
Oakland, all others on this line have lots.

South of the station, heading toward downtown Oakland,
the four tracks converge to three, with a siding where the fourth main
should continue. Only three tracks enter the downtown Oakland tunnel;
one on the lower level and two on the upper. The original plan was to
have four tracks into Oakland, but budget constraints during
construction eliminated the four track idea, and in fact only two
tracks were built initially, with room left for addition of a third
track at a later date. This third track was installed during the
1980s.

The next stations along the line, at
19th/Broadway and 12th/Broadway in the
Oakland central business district, were planned to have all four
tracks, with an island platform on each of two levels. Trains on the
upper level would run north/east, and those on the lower level
south/west. But, as noted above, the stations were constructed with
only three tracks. The three-track service is operated with one single
south/west-bound track on the lower level and two north/east-bound
tracks on the upper level. (Rumors have been spread that the fourth
track was actually installed and is hidden behind the platform wall on
the lower level, but staff at the Lake Merritt control center
confirmed that it does not exist.) The two stations are tiled in very
contrasting monotones; dark blue at 19th and a red-orange at 12th. The
upper platform is open to the fare control/concourse mezzanine giving
a pleasant effect.

South of 12th St., two tracks turn east to the Lake
Merritt station. This island platform station serves a
community college and the BART headquarters building for the system
which includes the central train control. Leaving Lake Merritt, the
tracks rise to the surface and run on an elevated structure of
pre-cast concrete. From the portal to a point near the Fremont
Station, the right of way is located next to the former Western
Pacific railroad.

The first elevated station is Fruitvale,
with two side platforms. The architectural style of these Fremont
line stations is generally concrete half-walls topped with metal
framing, which supports partial sheet-metal canopies. The platforms
are served by stairs, escalators, and elevators. Fare control,
including the agent's booth, is generally at ground level and includes
restrooms within fare control and the various change-making and ticket
vending machines. Most stations also have bus platforms adjacent to
the ground level areas.

The next station is Coliseum, an island
platform station, which serves the Oakland Coliseum complex of
ballpark, indoor arena, and exhibition hall, as well as the bus
connection to the nearby Oakland Airport. Curiously, no provisions
were made for laying up trains for large events.

Leaving the city of Oakland, the next station, San
Leandro is again two side platforms. Between this station and
the next the tracks ramp down to a fenced surface right of way.

The next station, Bayfair, is an island
platform. When BART opened this station it was merely adjacent a
mall, and a short siding existed south of the station. With the
recent addition of the Dublin/Pleasanton line, this is now a transfer
station and there is a complex of sidings between the station and the
actual junction.

Proceeding south the next station is
Hayward; again, two side platforms with concrete half
walls and sheet metal partial canopies. The South
Hayward station is much the same but directly adjacent to the
south is a large yard complex. This facility makes up, stores,
cleans, and repairs cars. Note that the first generation of cars
required addition of no-cab "B" cars into the middle of a train, so
all consist changes were done within yards. The newer "C-1" and "C-2"
cars allow trains to be cut/joined at stations.

The Union City station is next and is
unremarkable as another at-grade side platform installation.
South of Union City, the right-of-way diverges from the
former Western Pacific line, rises to cross Alameda Creek and
terminates at an elevated island station in Fremont.
Fremont station is served by many local buses and an express bus
service southward to San Jose. In 1972, Fremont was the site of the
"Fremont Flyer" accident, where a train overshot the end of track and
ran into the parking lot, with several injuries. (See Oakland
Tribune, 10/2/1972, for details.)

Dublin/Pleasanton Branch

The newest addition to the BART system is the short
Dublin/Pleasanton extension, which leaves the Fremont line just south
of Bayfair station. This line tunnels into the median of a freeway
where it remains as it passes one station, Castro Valley
at the foot of the hills and then crosses the range of hills to the
valley beyond where it terminates at Dublin-Pleasanton
station. The entire branch is two tracks with one central siding and
crossovers near the crest of the grade. Both stations are island and
include parking and bus platforms.

Richmond Line

The northern branch to Berkeley and Richmond opened
shortly after the initial segment, in December, 1972. This line
diverges from the freeway median immediately north of the MacArthur
station through a very short tunnel and proceeds north as a concrete
elevated in the center of the former Grove Street (now M. L. King
Jr. Way).

Just south of the border with Berkeley the right-of-way
dives to become subway again as it enters Ashby
station. The Ashby station is a concrete island platform in a fairly
tall space with windows on one side letting in natural light at
concourse/fare control level. This portion of the line was originally
planned to be elevated, but the city of Berkeley decided to pay the
extra cost to build it as a subway. The city then objected to the
redesigned Ashby station claiming the planned skylights meant it was
not a true "subway" station. The station was again redesigned and
built with out skylights.

Historical note: for the roughly one mile from Ashby to
downtown Berkeley, the BART subway is directly below streets where
Southern Pacific and Key System electric lines ran during the first
half of this century.

Proceeding north, the next station is
Berkeley. This station serves the large nearby
University of California/Berkeley campus. Architecturally, the
station is vaguely similar to others in the system, but is more
interesting for its above-ground glass rotunda escalator entrance.
BART is monumentalist by design in some places, and this is one. The
fare control mezzanine is a pleasant arched area with several fare
gates. In a style reminiscent of some New York City IND subway
stations, provisions were made for more platform to mezzanine stairs
than usage has dictated. The southernmost gates, booth, and stairway
has been gated off. The primary booth is adjacent the escalator bank
and features computer display of schedules for connecting local buses.
As a design note the elevators were an afterthought and so the
platform to concourse unit is outside fare control.

From downtown Berkeley, the line turns northwest, and
there is a crossover before the next station, North
Berkeley. This station is a fairly plain concrete island
platform, but at ground level the fare control area is in a polygon of
40' diameter, surrounded by parking, and a bus stop.

Rising from the tunnel the concrete elevated ROW is
directly over a onetime Santa Fe ROW heading northwest. The next
station is El Cerrito Plaza. This side platform
elevated station has its own parking lot as well as serving a dying
shopping center. Several local bus lines connect here.

El Cerrito Del Norte is next and is a major
transfer hub. A side platform elevated station is now dwarfed on the
east side by a huge multi-story parking structure which fills each
morning. At ground level there is an extensive set of bus platforms
serving local buses and those from several outlying counties.

From here the right-of-way turns to continue following
the Santa Fe at ground level and then turns again to parallel the
Southern Pacific to the Richmond station. This northernmost
terminal is a ground level island platform and is adjacent to the
Amtrak station which handles California intrastate services (the San
Joaquin and Capitol trains). Directly north of the station is BART's
Richmond Yard.

Returning to the MacArthur station in Oakland, we
transfer to a train heading northeast to Concord/Bay Point. Traveling
in freeway median, the first stop is at Rockridge. This
station is an island platform in the middle of an elevated freeway and
directly over a major commercial arterial in a neighborhood of mostly
single family houses. There is a ground-level parking lot. This
station is in the vicinity of the old Sacramento Northern railroad.

Leaving Rockridge there is a crossover before the tracks
enter a tunnel through the hills. As the tracks exit the tunnel to
Orinda station, they are again in the median of a
freeway. Orinda is a center island platform, and at ground level there
is a parking lot and bus platform area. Continuing east, the next
station is Lafayette, also an island platform in the freeway
median. There are crossovers and a center siding here just east of
the station.

The approach to Walnut Creek (from the
south) is one of the most interesting track alignments on the system.
Soon after leaving Lafayette, the tracks duck into a tunnel to leave
the freeway median and emerge in the hills. The tracks then come out
of the hills on a curved elevated structure over a major freeway
interchange before heading straight to the station. The Walnut Creek
station stands on the former yard of the Sacramento Northern.

Leaving Walnut Creek, the elevated concrete structure
heads northeast to Pleasant Hill, another side platform
structure. Returning to grade level, the right-of-way is nearly on
the alignment of the Sacramento Northern, an interurban line built a
century ago and abandoned in the 1940s. The Concord Yard is east of
the right-of-way at this point.

Continuing northeast, the
Concord station was the terminal of this branch from its
opening in 1973 until the North Concord and Pittsburg/Bay Point
stations were opened in 1995/1996. Concord is an elevated station
with island platform, and parking lot and bus platforms below. There
are not too many distinguishing details.

The grade level track between Concord and North Concord
is anchored in an unusual way. The track is anchored to square
concrete slabs about a foot thick under the track. The concrete slabs
are laid on a concrete bed with rubber spacers between the slabs and
between the slabs and the bed. North Concord (Martinez)
is next, an island platform station in at grade level (in a sort of
open cut). This station served duty as the terminal until the
Pittsburg station opened.

Next up, the Pittsburg/Bay Point station is
now the terminal on this line and is a two-track island platform in a
cut with the tracks extending some distance as layup/short term
storage. There is also a set of non-revenue sidings adjacent the
right-of-way, perhaps for delivery of new cars. (The most recent
contract specified final assembly within the service area, and was a
Morrison-Knudsen project. The builders plates in the first twenty or
so of these new cars originally read MK Hornell, with the balance of
the order reading MK Pittsburg.)

San Francisco/Transbay Tube Line

Returning once again to the central location of MacArthur
station, we now board a train bound for San Francisco. We'll pass
through the two downtown Oakland stations at 19th and 12th Streets,
and take the right-hand turn at the switch south of 12th St, and rise
from the west portal of the downtown Oakland tunnel. The elevated
West Oakland station is next. This station, originally
named Oakland West, is a two side platform concrete station. Although
the neighborhood is quite depressed, the parking lot fills each
morning as all trains from here run to San Francisco. Recently a
second set of escalators were added to facilitate throughput from
ground level fare control.

Leaving the station there are crossovers and then the
right-of-way dives to the Transbay Tube, emerging in San Francisco on
the third level down from street level at Embarcadero
station. The downtown San Francisco stations all have a fare
control/concourse mezzanine on the first level down, a two-track
"local" level operated by San Francisco MUNI as its Metro Subway on the second
level down, and finally the two-track island platform BART
tunnels. The MUNI level was originally intended to be operated by
BART, but plans changed early on in construction. At each of these
stations, there are separate fare control areas in the mezzanine, and
direct stairways/escalators to each platform. These stations are under
Market Street, which was once the domain of two competing streetcar
systems with four streetcar tracks (now just two tracks).

The Embarcadero station, the last of the San Francisco
stations to open, has more glass, chrome, and indirect lighting than
the others. In addition, there are openings in the ceiling which
allow one to view the MUNI Metro operations above. The interior
finish includes circular patterns on the side walls at track level and
marble flooring on the concourse.

Departing Embarcadero, immediately west there is a
scissors crossover, and then the next station is
Montgomery. This is the most used station on the
system, adjacent to the downtown financial district. Unfortunately,
the station's architectural detail is completely unremarkable.

The next station, Powell is virtually
identical to Montgomery. Both the Montgomery and Powell stations have
concourse connections to adjacent buildings and direct entrance to
retail establishments.

Next up, Civic Center station, is the last
station served by both BART and MUNI. It has several interesting
details. As a decorative motif there are reproductions of classical
(Greek, Roman) political faces on the side walls at track level. This
station was apparently designed and constructed before it was decided
to have the upper level operated by MUNI; the stairs from the bottom
platform land at the intermediate platform and then were later fenced
off with steel bars.

From this point BART turns to run under Mission Street
through one of the older and more interesting neighborhoods of San
Francisco. There are stations at 16th St./Mission and
at 24th St./Mission. At each, the architecture is
identical although the color accents in the tiles are different. The
fare control mezzanine is full length and arched like the station at
Berkeley. At platform level the side walls opposite the island
platform have niches built in which are more visually interesting than
the flat walls of other stations. Both of these stations are in dense
urban areas where ridership is heavy. None of these stations have any
parking facilities.

The tunnel next turns from Mission St. to a station at
Glen Park, a neighborhood on the back side of one of the
many hills in town. This station is perhaps the most pretentious with
expensive stonework, extremely high ceilings at the ground level fare
control and floors to match. The station has a plaza fronting on it
stretching to the actual street corner. There is a tiny parking lot
across the street but most passengers arrive by one of several city
bus lines.

Leaving Glen Park, the tunnel rises to open cuts along an
urban freeway then dives through a short tunnel to arrive in the
Balboa Park station. This island platform station is
major transit hub, with many local bus lines dropping off passengers
here for the fast ride downtown. A short walk away is MUNI's Geneva
Yard and Terminal, which serves three of the five LRV streetcar routes
(the J-Church, M-Ocean View, and K-Ingleside). These streetcar routes
take separate paths to downtown San Francisco and all end up running
in the upper level of the tunnel described above.

From Balboa Park the right-of-way is at grade next to the
freeway all the way into the elevated three-track Daly
City station. As one approaches Daly City station there are
crossovers and a third main track. This station has one island
platform and one side platform. Originally the end of the line, this
station now serves as a terminal for some trains and merely a stop for
others. The Daly City station is at the city border, and includes
many bus bays both for San Francisco and suburban buses.

Colma, the current southwest end of the
line, lies in a valley where a parking structure has been built over
the yard and station. A three-track station with one island platform
and one side platform for terminating trains, the tracks continue some
distance for layup. Beyond Colma is the very controversial, phenomenally
expensive extension to the airport.

On June 22, 2003, BART officially opened an extension
south of Colma on the San Francisco peninsula to Millbrae, with
intermediate stops at South San Francisco, San Bruno, and San
Francisco International Airport. (An "open house" was held on June
21.) Departing Colma, the line runs in tunnel to an island platform at
South San Francisco, and continues to a similar station
at San Bruno. Departing San Bruno, the line emerges
onto an elevated structure, and splits into two branches, one swinging
east to the airport and one continuing direct to Millbrae. There is a
similar wye arrangement south of the airport so that trains from
Millbrae can also serve the airport.

Approaching the San Francisco International
Airport station, the tracks are joined by Millbrae leg of the
wye. The station at SFO is configured as a terminal, not a through
station, with two island platforms and three tracks. Exiting the
station, the SFO Sky Train airport circulator is one level up.
The fare from SFO to any of the downtown San Francisco stations is $4.70
(as of this writing).

Departing SFO on the Millbrae branch we swing west and
then south on elevated structure as we approach the CalTrain right of
way. Entering a short tunnel, this leg of the wye rejoins the
"mainline" from San Bruno and the right of way expands to three
tracks. Emerging from the short tunnel, the tracks directly enter the
Millbrae station, also three tracks with two island
platforms. The CalTrain tracks are directly to the west, and the
western platform has fare gates allowing direct connection. The
station headhouse is several flights up and has an elevated walkway to
a large parking structure.

The service pattern between San Francisco downtown and
the Airport and Millbrae stations has changed several times since the
opening of the line. Refer to the official service guide for services
presently operated.

Roster

Cars are from 70' to 75' long, seat 64-72 riders (see
table), and include space for wheelchairs and bicycles. All cars
feature cushioned seating and carpets. Trains vary from 3 to 10
cars. Trains are OPTO (One Person Train Operation), but are in fact
mostly run by the central train control computer. Occasionally trains
are run in manual due to some malfunction. The track gauge is an
unusual 5'6" widegauge, precluding connection to other mainline
railroads for expansion purposes.

There are four types of cars. The first several orders,
all built by Rohr, were late and overweight. They came as cab cars
with the fiberglass slant fronts. The "B" center cars have no cabs,
but have control cabinets with hostler controls for moving the cars
around the yards (and perhaps could be used in emergency situations).
The third group, "C" cars, from GEC Alstom, have flat fronts on the
cabs and can run mid-train. The fourth order, C-2 cars, are like the
GEC cars but add metal stanchions and were built by
Morrison-Knudsen. Currently, Adtranz is rehabbing the original cars.